N.R.M. (Niezaležnaja Respublika Mroja) is a rock band from Minsk, Belarus, founded in 1994. They are considered to be the most popular rock band in the country. They perform in the Belarusian language, and are a rallying point for political opposition to the Belarusian government, despite a performance ban used during 2006-2009 against them.
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The band grew out of a previous group, Mroja (which means "dream" or "vision"), and N.R.M. stands for "The Independent Republic of Dream" (Незалежная Рэспубліка Мроя in Belarusian). Their music tends toward melodic hard rock with witty and often indirectly political lyrics. The band's albums and publicity materials generally use the Łacinka alphabet, the Belarusian version of the Latin alphabet that was widely used alongside Cyrillic prior to the establishment of the Soviet Union.
Like several other bands that sing in Belarus, they have expressed their opposition to President Alexander Lukashenko, although they have never mentioned him by name in their lyrics. N.R.M.'s largest crowd was in Kiev in 2004, when they played in support of the Orange Revolution in Ukraine, with band members expressing their hope that something similar would happen in their own country.
During this years N.R.M., along with many other Belarusian bands, was unofficially banned from FM station broadcast in Belarus. There is no written blacklist, but FM station managers have said they received unofficial "recommendations" from the authorities.
Within the next three years the group continued active its concert activity. Numerous performances abroad took place in Poland, Germany, Slovakia, Sweden. In their homeland, however, the group is included into the forbidden list, therefore they give concerts seldom and in underground conditions.
In 2007, the long-awaited sixth studio album "06" was released. It was recorded, according to Lavon Volski, under the influence of political events of spring 2006 in Belarus. The album "06" is compiled with songs of different styles. Violoncello, mandoline, keyboard were used, which are new instruments for the group. Besides for the first time songs were sang not only by Lavon Volski, but also by other participants of the group and even children's chorus.
After the meeting of Belarusian rock-musicians with the deputy head of the Presidential Administration on ideology Aleh Pralyaskouski in the end of 2007[1] the band was unbanned.
| Year of release | Original title | Title | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | ŁaŁaŁaŁa | LaLaLaLa | |
| 1996 | Odzirydzidzina | Odzirydzidzina | |
| 1997 | Made in N.R.M. | Made in N.R.M. | |
| 1998 | Pašpart hramadzianina N.R.M. | The Passport of NRM Citizen | |
| 1999 | Akustyčnyja kancerty kanca 20-ha stahodździa | Acoustic Concerts at the End of the 20th Century | West Records |
| 2000 | Samotnik | Single | West Records |
| 2000 | Try čarapachi | Three Turtles | West Records |
| 2002 | Dom kultury | Palace of Culture | West Records |
| 2004 | Spravazdača 1994-2004 | Report 1994-2004 | West Records |
| 2007 | 06 | 06 |
The band appeared during one of their concerts at an opposition rally in 2006, which was featured in the documentary, A Lesson of Belarusian